Denver and the West

Columbine blooming anew

Ceremony envisions school as "symbol for strength, courage and hope"

A couple spends some time at the Columbine memorial inside Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in Littleton on Monday. The memorial
has 13 crosses, one for each of the 12 students and one teacher killed at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. A number of people
visited the memorial Monday, leaving flowers and mementos. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

JEFFERSON COUNTY — The time to write a new meaning for "Columbine" has come, survivors of the high school massacre, current students and former President Bill Clinton via videotape said during ceremonies to honor the 13 killed 10 years ago Monday.

"It's my hope you look at your school as that — your school — not the most famous high school in the world," Columbine alumnus and teacher Lee Andres told those who assembled in Clement Park near the school for a final tribute in a series of 10th-anniversary observances.

Perhaps then the world can see Columbine as "a symbol for strength, courage and hope," he said.

Bill Ritter, to the knoll overlooking the park's peaceful lake to hear recollections, songs and hopes for the future. At the end, 13 white doves were released, one for each victim, as bagpipes played "Amazing Grace."

Clinton told residents that their strength on a day "that has changed this world" inspired others in their darkest hours.

Survivors of the attacks on Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, were in the crowd.

Clinton recited the first names of the 13 killed at Columbine — but not the shooters, Eric Harris or Dylan Klebold, who committed suicide.

A woman carrying a poster-board sign urging remembrance for "all 15 victims" was asked to leave.

"She was here to make a scene," said Rich Petrone, the stepfather of Daniel Rohrbough, who was killed on the west staircase.

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"My son isn't here to speak for himself. I was speaking for Danny and the other dead children."

Val Schnurr, who was shot in the library, spoke for the 25 who were wounded that day.

"Some days it feels like it was yesterday," said Schnurr, now a social-services caseworker who helps children. "Some days it feels like a lifetime ago."

The simplest things take Ruth Feldman back to the day her two children escaped the gunmen — the sound of sirens or helicopters, or "just the right temperature on a spring day."

Her son, Ryan, ran as bullets flew past so close they sounded like bees. Her daughter, Emily, was barricaded in a teacher's office for hours.

From her job at the Dairy Queen near the school, Feldman has watched her children's classmates grow from teenagers to young adults.

They each handled it differently. Some got tattoos and found ways to test life, she said.

"They were living life on fast-forward," she said.

Beau Loendorf, the current student body president, said he is amazed how many Columbine graduates have become teachers in the 10 years since.

When he enrolled four years ago, the anxiety of the attacks "many years before" filled him, but it washed away with the kindness of his friends, his teachers and the community.

He thinks of that more than the shootings.

"Now, more than ever, I understand what it means to say, 'We are Columbine,' " he said.

For principal Frank DeAngelis, the dead are never far away, he said. A memorial in the school and a wall in his office are dedicated to "the beloved 13."

He remembered last October, when he was pacing around the school, sweating his role in his goddaughter's wedding.

He looked down and was standing on the paver with the name Matthew Kechter, who was killed in the library.

DeAngelis said, "Thanks for being here with me."

He told the survivors of the Virginia Tech shooting that Columbine would help shoulder their burden of remembering.

"We share in your sorrow, and we continue to walk the path with you as we heal."

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